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18h ago

U.S. and Mexico Sign MOU for 100% Sewage Cleanup of Tijuana River by 2027

The six-page accord demands a $93 million Mexican funding boost, rerouting treated effluent upstream of the Rodríguez Dam, expanded U.S. treatment capacity, securing a permanent cleanup by 2027.

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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks next to Mexican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Alicia Barcena Ibarra, during the signing of the memorandum of understanding between U.S. and Mexico to achieve a permanent solution to the decades-old Tijuana River sewage crisis, in Mexico City, Mexico July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
Mexican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Alicia Barcena Ibarra, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin show the signed memorandum of understanding between U.S. and Mexico to achieve a permanent solution to the decades-old Tijuana River sewage crisis, in Mexico City, Mexico July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
Debris around a trash boom located in the Tijuana River Valley on Tuesday, July 1, 2025 in San Ysidro, California. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Overview

  • Mexico must allocate the remaining $93 million in Minute 328 funds by 2026–2027 to expedite critical sewage system upgrades in Tijuana.
  • The agreement requires diversion of 10 million gallons per day of treated wastewater above the Rodríguez Dam and rehabilitation of the Parallel Gravity Line.
  • The U.S. will release Border Water Infrastructure Program funds to complete the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant’s capacity increase to 35 million gallons per day by August and 50 million by December 2027.
  • All specified binational infrastructure projects carry a firm December 31, 2027 deadline, four years ahead of original schedules.
  • EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin hailed the pact as a “100% permanent solution” to protect Southern California’s beaches, military training grounds and public health.